November 2024
Shakti Caterina Maggi ~ Embodied nonduality
The teaching will be a dive into the heart of non-duality, an open and direct sharing about how our spiritual essence embodies in human experience to wake up to itself.
We will explore how suffering is the way through which we can recognize our self-imposed limitations and use it as a trampoline to consciously connect to an unshakeable inner peace.
Shakti Caterina Maggi is a spiritual teacher r widely recognized as one of the most authentic and profound voices of contemporary spirituality. Combining the vision of Advaita and non-dual Tantra with a contemporary approach, Shakti offers an inner technology to dissolve the contraction of suffering and access a space of peace and unconditional love towards life.
Find out more »Ishita Sharma ~ Embodiment Lab – Experiments in Embodying Presence
We are not thinking beings who sense; we are sensing beings who think. And re-setting that balance is key to joy, to vibrance, and true liberation!
Join us for Embodiment Lab, an experiential exploration of the body as a doorway to presence and aliveness, returning to the ground of being through our own direct experience.
Ishita Sharma serves as a spiritual teacher, healing mirror, embodiment partner, and Core Energetics Practitioner. Teaching Universal principles of healing and mysticism, she is devoted to supporting healing and awakening in all those committed to living a bright and connected life, sharing their gifts for the good of the Whole.
Find out more »December 2024
Ishtar ~ Flowing Wholeness – Melting into the Heart of Life (In Person: Berkeley, CA & Livestream)
When the mind settles into Silence, the heart opens to the great mystery hidden everywhere in plain sight. The formless takes the form of Love, melting the barrier between self and world, reconnecting us to primordial Wholeness. Every moment of life − sublime or awful − can be experienced as a flowing wholeness.
We’ll walk into a few powerful ways of melting into wholeness: effortless mantra practice, heart-engaging appreciation, tuning directly into Silence, and opening to the flow of Shakti. This is the way of praying until we become the prayer.
Ishtar is a meditation teacher, mystic, monk, gardener, and head teacher of the School for Awakened Living. At age 13, he experienced a near death experience (NDE ), and fell into Samadhi. The desire to return to Samadhi propelled him on a spiritual path. A meditation practice known as the Ishayas’ Ascension brought him to an Ashram at age 18. Since then, he has been teaching effortless meditation, and helping people relax into Wholeness.
Find out more »John Prendergast ~ Being No One; Being Your Self (Bay Area Daylong Retreat)
The freer we are of our self-image and story, and all of the emotional reactions and somatic contractions that go with this limited identity, the freer we are to simply be ourself − a living mystery not separate from the whole of life. Self-inquiry facilitates an unveiling, unlearning, spontaneous letting go, and discovery of our true nature. This meeting will include silent and guided meditations, a talk, dyadic self-inquiry, and intimate, powerful, experiential conversations.
John Prendergast is a spiritual teacher, retired psychotherapist, and retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at CIIS, well known for his pioneering work in integrating non-dual wisdom and psychotherapy. He studied with the European sage Jean Klein for many years, as well as with Adyashanti, who gave him dharma transmission in 2023.
Find out more »Stephan Bodian ~ Awakening Day Mini Retreat (Online)
In Japanese Zen, December 8th is celebrated as Bodhi Day, the anniversary of the Buddha’s awakening, and monasteries hold a special retreat that extends through the night of the 7th and culminates at dawn on the 8th, when the Buddha saw the morning star and attained enlightenment. This December 8th is also the 50th anniversary of my ordination as a Zen monk, and I want to express my gratitude to my teachers and students by sitting with you in awakened awareness. The emphasis will be on silent sitting accompanied by direct pointers to our natural state of inherent wakefulness.
Stephan Bodian is a teacher in the nondual wisdom tradition of Zen, Dzogchen, and Advaita Vedanta. Stephan studied for many years with Advaita master Jean Klein and received Dharma transmission from Adyashanti in 2001.
Find out more »Pamela Wilson ~ Dark Love: Being the Potent Unwavering Strength of Love (4 Part Online Retreat)
When our inner ocean is stormy, we can follow the waves deep into the serene solace of Stillness. This ancient presence is already within you, holding you and giving life.
Reactions, distractions and busyness keep us on the surface, thus limiting the flow of our transmission. Most of us have noticed when we stop, unwinding happens and peace unfolds. We are, of course, active sages supporting our families, friends and communities.
Yet, the resource that holds everyone longs for us to include ourselves, to shine awareness into the dark all-giving Love that lays beneath.
Join Pamela Wilson for this four-session retreat. Pamela will guide us to honor and nourish this dark love within, allowing us to live from the ancient heart of everything. She is celebrated for her ability to open the heart and create a space in which long-cherished struggles and notions about one’s identity relax.
Find out more »Lynn Marie Lumiere, MFT ~ EMBODIED LOVE: Exploring Awakened Relating
Relationships, especially close intimate ones, can be our greatest challenge when it comes to embodied awakening. They seem to get particularly challenging during the holiday season when we are more in touch with family members. Awakened relating offers a way to be with our relationship triggers in a way that can both heal our deeper relational wounding and allow us to stay connected with others when it is triggered.
Together, we will explore how to meet the issues in the loving presence of our being, while also meeting and understanding our projections and reactivity. Lynn Marie Lumiere is a seasoned psychotherapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, spiritual mentor, and author, who brings extensive skills and experience with awakened relating on somatic, emotional, and spiritual levels.
Find out more »Jeannie Zandi ~ Giving & Receiving
Join Jeannie to explore the generosity of giving and the humility of receiving.
Jeannie Zandi is the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the Heart on the planet. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy toward humanness, and a juicy, poetic and often humorous teaching style that evokes a deep meeting with oneself and reality.
Susanne Marie ~ The Light Inside the Dark: In Honor of Solstice
In honor of the Winter Solstice we will meet in the unmoving stillness, resting with equanimity, holding what we encounter within with kindness and allowance. By entering darkness, we are invited to know ourselves more intimately, surrendering to that which does not push away what we contain. Only by meeting ourselves with allowance, do we evolve beyond resistance. Solstice is an ideal day to rest, heal, and prepare for the longer days ahead.
Susanne Marie offers integrated teachings in support of freedom, and the celebration of our common essence of love and unity with all life. Her teaching style is heart-centered and practical, with a focus on supporting you in your unique awakening journey.
Find out more »January 2025
Pamela Wilson ~ Love Wisdom and Strength ~ New Year’s Day Bay Area Daylong Retreat
Gathering together to nourish each other in rooting and spreading our transmission branches wide to benefit all Beings. Please join Pamela and your fellow sages to celebrate the New Year together.
Pamela Wilson evokes through dialogue, inquiry and her very presence the qualities of unconditional love and radical acceptance. She is celebrated for her ability to open the heart and create a space in which long-cherished struggles and notions about one’s identity relax.
Find out more »